Sony Bravia II TV review: Sturdy stands, new remote shortcuts, and better HDR improve on the classic predecessor

Sony recently unveiled its new Bravia 2 II series in India as a successor to the Bravia 2 series, in 43, 50, 55, 65 and 75-inch sizes. The Ultra HD LED (S25M2) starts at ₹50,990. The 55-inch model, which I tried, had a ₹75,990 price tag. 

 

Let us check how well the TV performs and where it lacks compared to the competition.

 

Among the first things you might notice about the TV, other than the thinner metal bezels around the display, are the new, flatter legs (stands). Not that the previous ones were bad, but these new ones feel a bit more assuring and sturdier to hold a big TV on the table. 

 

The TV, plus the stands, weighs around 10kg in total. The back comprises a thick plastic board that mounts side-facing ports—for HDMI 2.1 ports (including one eARC), an ethernet port, digital audio out, 2 USB type A ports and an antenna; while the power cord attaches on the other half of the back. 

 

There’s Sony branding near the bottom and a downward-facing LED to indicate power. The TV remote control has a textured plastic material that’s light and feels nice to use. 

 

It has the usual shortcut keys for apps like Sony LIV and Netflix, but now there is a new dedicated key for Crunchyroll. The remote control is responsive, with the D-pad for navigating and for adjusting volume or opening apps. 

 

The TV features a 54.6-inch 4k (3840x2160) LCD display that does 50Hz and 60Hz refresh rates at 8-bit colour depth. 

 

I preferred to adjust display settings to my liking, as the default ones came with motion smoothness and noise cancellation settings enabled out of the box. 

 

I found the display panel to be top-notch for the price tag. It has good colour depth for watching movies and TV shows, and handled high-bitrate 4K videos without any stuttering. For fast-moving subjects, too, the display didn’t disappoint and showed good details without sacrificing contrast. 

 

HDR output is one place where the TV seems to have improved from last time, with better viewing angles and contrast for darker scenes, the detailing seems crisper and “livelier”, so to speak. 

 

The Sony Bravia app, which streams at up to 80Mbps with movies in HDR with Dolby Atmos, showcased the best this TV had to offer. With IMAX titles, the app is certainly worth a look. 

 

For audio, you get two 10-Watt speakers each, which can deliver decent output for watching live sports, but they struggle when it comes to dialogue delivery when watching TV shows and movies. 

 

They are loud and clear otherwise, but I wouldn’t say they hit home for a TV this size. If your room is spacious enough, you’re definitely better off investing a bit into a set of speakers to go with this TV that has the visual part covered. 

 

For performance, I found it to be satisfactory, running Google TV based on Android 12 OS with the March security patch installed. There are no major hiccups once you get into the TV, which takes about 25 seconds for a fresh reboot. 

 

Apps ran fairly well during my usage, and I didn’t find any glitches. Earlier on, the TV would become randomly unresponsive if I switched to an app instantly after turning the TV on, but later, after an OS update, this issue seems to have been fixed. 

 

All in all, the Sony Bravia 2 II seems to have more than enough up its sleeves to take on the competition, both established and new players. It has a quality panel in place with decent to good performance for both movie-watching, live sports and gaming. While audio isn’t quite the best, it’s okay for a not-so-huge room, for which you might as well consider a set of speakers or a soundbar to pair with it.

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